Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

När samhällets formella beredskapsstrukturer inte förmår leverera kan spontan samverkan mellan privatpersoner vara avgörande för samhällets förmåga att hantera och snabbt återhämta sig vid kriser. Samtidigt riskerar dessa initiativ i stor utsträckning att förbli osynliga i såväl den
vetenskapliga litteraturen som i policy- och styrdokument. Denna studie undersöker hur lanthandlar i tre byar på den skånska landsbygden potentiellt kan fungera som informella
beredskapsnoder i samband med kriser. Mot bakgrund av en växande diskrepans mellan institutionell kapacitet och beredskapsbehov analyseras hur dessa aktörer bidrar till lokal resiliens genom absorptiv, adaptiv och transformativ kapacitet. Teoretiskt tar studien avstamp i begreppen
socialt kapital, social och institutionell tillit och emergenta fenomen,samt introducerar begreppet responsiv sammanhållning som ett analytiskt verktyg för att förstå hur spontan, lokal samverkan uppstår i situationer där officiella insatser dröjer eller uteblir. Studiens resultat

In situations where formal emergency preparedness structures prove insufficient, spontaneous collaboration among individuals may be critical for a society’s ability to manage and swiftly recover from crisis. However, Bottom-Up Initiatives are often overlooked in both academic literature and policy frameworks. This study explores how rural grocery stores in three villages in southern Sweden, may function as informal hubs for crisis management. Considering a growing gap between institutional capacity and local preparedness needs, the analysis examines how these actors contribute to community resilience through absorptive, adaptive, and transformative resilience capacities. The analysis grounded in theoretical perspectives on social capital, social and institutional trust, and emergent phenomena. The study also introduces ‘responsive cohesion’ as an analytical lens for analyzing how spontaneous, locally rooted collaboration arises in the absence or delay of official response mechanisms. The result illustrates how informal networks – centered around the rural store – facilitate grassroot coordination and collective agency. The discussion situates these findings within the broader context of ongoing structural transformations in social and civil safety systems and reflects on the potential societal implications of eroding trust from a resilience perspective. The study emphasizes the importance of enabling conditions for local self-organization and highlights how informal preparedness structures may warrant greater recognition and, over time, be integrated into a broader understanding of societal supply preparedness.